When it comes to neighborhood pride, Sarah Stacy-Iannarone, of the Mount Scott-Arleta Neighborhood, has lots of it. She co-owns the Arleta Library Café, a bustling neighborhood food joint that sits right across the Mount Scott Community Center on SE 72nd Ave of SE Harold. Groups of locals come in to chat and for a bite to eat every day. When she is not working, Sarah is involved in her neighborhood association, acting as the Vice-Chair for the Neighborhood Association Board.

In January 2005 at a neighborhood needs assessment meeting, members discussed traffic flow on 72nd as a major safety hazard. A hundred or more people cross the busy street everyday to get to Mount Scott Community Center. Sarah contacted Portland Department of Transportation and the request for installing crosswalks was refused because the street’s traffic flow was considered to be too high for pedestrian access. Instead of getting frustrated and giving up on her vision, however, she got creative instead. Sarah reflected, “This street is made for cars. I would like it to be accessible for people too.” Sarah along with a group of residents in the neighborhood got together to talk about the issue of the busy street. They met several times and decided to work together towards traffic calming strategies. Inspired by the idea of an “intersection repair project,” by Portland-based nonprofit City Repair, they envisioned creating a place on 72nd that would build neighborhood pride and encourage cars to slow down. They decided to convert the triangular median at the intersection of 72nd and Woodstock into a meeting spot for local residents to enjoy.

Mount Scott Arleta neighbors needed a fiscal sponsor to help them with this project. They chose Southeast Uplift, the neighborhood coalition for SE Portland’s 20 neighborhoods. “Southeast Uplift made it possible for us to write the grant for the Regional Arts and Culture Council, and their executive director, Cece Hughley Noel, has been a great booster and supporter of our project,” says Sarah. The coalition also provides insurance for the site.

As I stand at the Arleta Triangle on a balmy Spring morning, I see the tangible results of literally thousands of hours put in by volunteers. A wall made out of cobb, a mud and straw based building material, stands over 3 feet high and 54 feet long, curving around the median. Sarah tells me that it was built entirely by hand. I see four freshly planted trees on the site, too. Two of them maples, one a Ponderosa pine and one majestic Douglas fir, reminiscent of the firs that dwell in Mount Scott Park, just a block north of the Triangle. All in all, it is a pleasant spot that feels like a refuge from the busy streets around it. The Triangle gives Mount Scott-Arleta Neighborhood residents a chance to come out and meet with one another as well as build neighborhood pride. “The Triangle builds connections between people and their place,” says Sarah.